The big boys, released by the national side, hinted at the gulf between county and country. In the semi-finals of the Friends Life t20, which saw Yorkshire and Hampshire progress to a lucrative final, the England players showed the way. It was partly through their expertise, but their experience of the grand occasion was always likely to be a key asset as well.

In the first match Jonny Bairstow hit an unbeaten 68, which enabled Yorkshire to reach a total that proved to be way beyond Sussex's compass. This was partly because the Tim Bresnan, also on day-release from England, bowled cannily, picking up two for 22 from his four overs.

In the afternoon we would not have had a match at all but for the controlled belligerence of Craig Kieswetter, who also rejoins the one-day squad on Sunday night. He hit an unbeaten 63 out of Somerset's total of 125 for six, the lowest ever posted at a finals day. Although Somerset fought tigerishly in the field this was not enough to prevent Hampshire winning by six wickets. So all three England players head off for Southampton and Tuesday's ODI against South Africa in good form if not good heart.

Bairstow can do no wrong at the moment. Yorkshire were floundering at 36 for three with only two balls of the powerplay remaining when he came to the crease. His record for Yorkshire in this competition this season had been modest. He averaged five in five games although, to be fair to him, for most of those he had only been dispatched at the last minute from England's ODI squad to play for his county side.

This time Bairstow was already in Cardiff when his Yorkshire team-mates arrived here. On Friday he was on the bench for the ODI against South Africa, a position that he will not be occupying for much longer. For now he has to wait his turn for England, but Yorkshire were very grateful to have him in their side at the Swalec Stadium.

Initially their upper order had tried to be too clever against the wily old jet-lagged Kiwi, Scott Styris, who bowls the gentlest of medium pacers. Both Andrew Gale and Phil Jaques had darted to the leg-side to give themselves room to swing their arms, but Styris watched them and undermined them. Then Joe Root, the technically correct, archetypal Yorkshire opener whenever he is facing a red ball, attempted to swashbuckle without much success. He opted for a premeditated reverse sweep and was lbw to a Styris full-toss, which hit his pads just below the knee roll. Not sure I ever saw Boycott get out like that.

It was time for a bit of composure and patience and Bairstow provided this alongside the South African David Miller. Initially it was Miller who played the big shots, cracking straight sixes off Chris Liddle and Will Beer. Bairstow kept his risks to a minimum yet still played some silky strokes, including three sixes, all the while also gliding between the wickets like a hare. His partnership of 82 with Miller was decisive.

He is in such good form at the moment that England would surely like him in their first XI on Tuesday but it is very hard to see how they can get him there.

Bairstow's was not the highest score of the match because Chris Nash would go on to hit an unbeaten 80 for Sussex. The problem was that the only other player to reach double figures was Murray Goodwin, who hit a scratchy 15.

Yorkshire, in pursuit of their first one-day trophy since 2002, were razor-sharp in the field. The catches usually went to Gary Ballance, who took them with ease; Bresnan, in his first t20 outing for Yorkshire this summer, was suitably frugal. So too was the promising off-spinner, Azeem Rafiq.

Despite the defiance of Nash Sussex were seldom in the hunt. A 36-run defeat is a massive margin in this form of the game.

The second game was a little closer despite Somerset's paltry score. There was the unfamiliar sight of Marcus Trescothick not opening the batting, though he was at the crease after the seventh ball of the match, which ballooned from Richard Levi's bat into the hands of mid-on.

Thereafter Dimitri Mascarenhas tormented the upper order through his accuracy, canniness and lack of pace. Trescothick was bowled off the inside edge and Jos Buttler merely flickered so that it was left to Kieswetter to post any sort of target. One of his sixes went over the sightscreen and way beyond the River Taff.

The pitch by now was showing some signs of deterioration and was increasingly helpful to slower bowlers. For a while Somerset caused Hampshire some anxieties. They reduced their opponents to 72 for four in the 13th over after a couple of moments of brilliance in the field. Buttler dived far to his right at midwicket to catch Jimmy Adams – like Bairstow, Buttler is a handy wicketkeeper, but a brilliant outfielder.

Then the athletic Kieswetter and Trego combined expertly to run out Michael Carberry. Max Waller caused a few problems with his wrist-spinners, but it was clear that Alfonso Thomas, returning from a hamstring injury was not match-fit.

So Hampshire had enough nous to get themselves to the final. Two old hands, Sean Ervine and Simon Katich, combined sensibly in an unbroken partnership of 54 and the game was won with an over to spare.